Your Right to Know

As Democrat Maureen Reedy knocked on doors recently in an Upper Arlington neighborhood, she was greeted by a woman who identified herself as a retired Republican teacher who has serious issues with the teachers union.

Reedy, a 29-year teacher who seems comfortable talking to most anyone, didn’t flinch. The House candidate talked about being named Ohio Teacher of the Year in 2002, being

a strong bipartisan voice for education and the importance of a strong family in a child’s ability to learn.

“We’ve had our local-government funds cut 50 percent. This is divesting, to me, in our public schools and communities. Then you’ve got the levies that spiral from that,” Reedy said, adding that she “will not let party affiliation define my final vote.”

By the time Reedy had finished the extensive conversation, she and the Republican teacher were laughing and finding lots of agreement.

If Reedy hopes to win against Republican Hilliard Councilwoman Stephanie Kunze in the new 24th House District, winning over some Republicans will be key.The district, created largely out of Upper Arlington and Hilliard when Republicans redrew the maps, should be one of Franklin County’s most-competitive House races. The district’s political index leans in Kunze’s favor, and she, too, is working the district hard with her own message.

“I’m a fiscal conservative, but I’m not really a politician,” Kunze said as she knocked on doors along Cemetery Road in Hilliard. “I have experience on City Council, so I’ve dealt with issues and have a good understanding of how government works.”

Kunze also understands economic struggles. Her husband lost his job in 2008 when the company he worked for filed for bankruptcy. “It worked out, but going six months without your main income was tough,” she said. “I’m not immune to hardship. I understand what people are facing.”

Kunze and Reedy have plentyof issues where they disagree, but both have concerns about Gov. John Kasich’s third-grade reading guarantee that lawmakers approved earlier this year.

Kunze said she has a friend who is a teacher who said her daughter would not have passed third grade if the guarantee was in place, though the girl has lots of other skills and hopes to one day own a dance studio.

“That would have been socially devastating for this child, who was well-adjusted socially and was ready to go onto the fourth grade,” Kunze said. “What does that do to your confidence as a child? Does that crush you?”

Reedy, an elementary instructional specialist who participates in more than 200 individualized meetings a year involving teachers, parents and children, called retention “a very drastic measure.” “Retention can be a very strategic and useful intervention when a child is struggling, but there is no research to support that it should be used unilaterally,” she said. “Instead of spending the vast amounts of money that will be incurred by this act, let’s channel that money into early diagnostics and assessments.”

But while Reedy stresses that local governments and schools are being hurt by budget cuts and residents are being squeezed by corresponding increases in local taxes, Kunze does not support using surplus tax revenue to restore cuts.

“The band-aid has been ripped off. ...We are providing essential services still without those funds,” she said. “Local governments have the ability to downsize themselves.”

Kunze also sees some benefit for communities such as Hilliard and Upper Arlington to pass their own taxes, rather than funneling money though the state.

“If we have a local levy for Upper Arlington schools ... that money stays in your school district,” she said. “There are some benefits of being able to control the destiny of your own city.”

The two also disagree about Kasich’s proposal to increase severance taxes on shale drilling to fund an income-tax cut.

Reedy agrees with the additional drilling taxes but says the revenue should be used to restore local government cuts and set up a recovery fund to help when the oil and gas are gone. A portion also should be diverted to deal with drilling-related environmental issues. An income-tax cut, she says, would favor the wealthy.

Kunze wants a wait-and-see approach to drilling taxes.“Clearly, if the estimates come to fruition, perhaps there will be a time to look at if we are getting enough back from them,” she said.

As for the tax-cut idea: “I don’t think the income-tax cut is a lot to an everyday family,” Kunze said. “But if we can make Ohio more competitive to attract more jobs across the board ... that’s something we should take a look at.”